On the afternoon of the penultimate day of the first lunar month, Alice was invited to Suzuna-an.

Invitation from Honju Kosuzu,A three-person girl tea party with Barnyard Aqiu.、But the fourth guest was unexpectedly visited.。

Ogura Chestnut, who has been staying at home all year round, stood at the door in a white dress and waved her hand to the stunned little bell at the door to say hello.

"Chestnut, why are you here?"

"Sister Xiaoling, is it very unexpected?" Ogura Kuriko smiled and leaned behind her, "There are guests? Sister Aqiu is also there?

Xiao Ling nodded: "Yes, chestnut you...... Do you want to come along?"

"Okay. Ogura Kuriko happily accepted the invitation.

So that's where it is.

Because they had been in and out of Suzuna-an, Atsuki and Kururiko Ogura had known each other earlier.

It needs to be introduced to Alice.

"Miss Witch, who lives in the Forest of Magic, is a very gentle and kind person, so you don't need to be afraid of her. ”

"Hello, I'm Alice Margot Royd. ”

"Hello, my name is Ogura Kuriko, and I will not give up on it, and please allow me to join the tea party. ”

"Of course," Alice smiled and nodded, "it will be a pleasure." ”

……

……

Ogura's visit was unexpected. Alice had only prepared two manuscripts, and the three of them were not enough.

Luckily, at a very young age, two book lovers, Suzu and Ah Qiu, often argued over who should read a new novel from the outside world first - often reading the same book together. So the two of them had long been accustomed to this situation—Suzu took one of them, moved her chair, and sat down next to Ah Qiu. The book was spread out on the tea table, and the first page was turned with great interest.

On the other side, Ogura Kuri picked up the other book as a matter of course, sat down across the tea table, opened the book, and began to read.

……

……

The three of them were reading a novel written by a witch, while Alice was drinking tea and observing the three casually.

The names of Suzutaro and Kristi Q had been heard of shortly after she came to Gensogo - Alice, who often came and went in Suzuna-an in order to familiarize herself with Gensokyo's culture, could easily see Christie Q's name in the works placed on the shelves, and Suzutaro's works appeared a little later than half a year, but both in quality and quantity were growing rapidly, and there was a momentum of coming from behind. Perhaps these two are the most famous authors in Gensokyo, but they don't associate these two tall authors with the two petite girls in front of them at all.

The relationship between the book house and the book house from time to time, Alice and Xiaoling have had a lot of conversations, and they have even been recommended a lot of novels. Now that I think about it, there seem to be many hints of the early style of Sutaro's works in the text of those novels.

As for Ah Qiu, she only had one encounter before the New Year's Eve Festival, and it was only the only conversation she had when she visited the Enchanted Forest as a barnyard and came to complete the content of "Gensokyo Origin". Even so, this well-mannered human girl made a great impression on her.

The three of them sat together and chatted at the New Year's Eve Festival, leaving a pleasant memory - the mood was diluted by what happened after that, but in any case, they did not expect to receive an invitation letter from Suzuna-an's Kanban Musuzu Honju Kosuzu a few days later.

Sure enough, did they also find that the chat very pleasant? Of course, there was no reason why they would refuse the invitation to the tea party this time—the letter said that the tea party was about reading, and it should be a relaxed gathering for everyone to get together and discuss while reading......, right? There won't be any such thing as a painstaking scenario, right?

Despite this thought, I still couldn't sleep at night - Alice's puppet show had scenes of dolls having tea parties, but most of them were based on the literature she had read.

No amount of borrowing from elsewhere could hide the fact that Alice herself had never attended any such tea party.

Fortunately, as if to dispel the concerns of Alice, the witch who left people "not cheerful", the letter mentioned another thing that made her very concerned - at the tea party at the end of last year, Xiao Ling and Ah Qiu had invited the witch Pache Norreki from the Great Library.

The witch of Nanayao did not twist but went happily, and it was said that the tea party was quite successful - this message really relieved Alice, since she has experience in entertaining witches, she should be able to go smoothly if she is invited.

Of course, if she thinks it's okay, it's not in line with her cautious style.

The day after receiving the letter, Alice visited Pache Norregi, the owner of the basement and large library of the Red Devil Pavilion. Although it is inevitably embarrassing to ask for advice on this, it may be understandable that they are both witches.

Pache did respond to her expectations and made Alice realize that the visit was a wise one—Suzu and Aqiu, both of whom invited Alice, were actually writers, two of Alice's long-known writers: Suzu Taro and Kristy Q.

The Witch of Nanayao, who is well versed in the world, easily saw Alice's concern after being shocked, so she analyzed and summarized it - the Red Devil Pavilion, which had just entered Gensokyo, was discovered by humans, and this place naturally became a strange place where the barnyard family had to collect information.

Barnyard Aqui seems to have a good opinion of Pache Norreki - although most of the books are magic books, there are also many short and medium-length stories written by Pache herself in some of the corners, and hearing about this also aroused the interest of her friend Honi Kosuzu.

On top of this, they suddenly received an invitation to a tea party even though they had no friendship, not only because they are also book lovers, but also because they also have the identity of the so-called "novel authors" that these two human girls have a sense of identity with witches.

At the tea party at the beginning of last year, I did mention a lot of things about creation and narrative methods, and I participated in the discussion between the two of them based on my experience.

Eventually, Patchouli made a suggestion to Alice – she might as well write a novel.

Of course, Alice's original intention for being invited is likely to be different from Patchouli's.

The two girls simply thought it was easy and happy to talk to Alice, and had no other ideas. At the tea table, they will definitely take care of Alice, who does not write, and discuss her work and creation in a more in-depth way - it seems that Alice will not be satisfied with this.

Alice, who doesn't usually interact with people, will come to Pache for help, which shows her solemn attitude. Since you want to be accepted by the two of you, write a remarkable work and get it to the tea party** The two of you can not only provide an entry point for the topic, but also be accepted as a "novice writer", and you can integrate it into the discussion of reading and creation smoothly.

This is where Alice comes to write a short story that is being read by the three people in front of her.

At the time, I thought that I might be shy to read my work to others in person, but when it came to this moment, Alice suddenly felt quite relaxed - and the reason for this relaxation was that although she was not good at writing, she did reading every day.

Alice is able to tell the difference between good and bad stories, and she is confident enough in the brilliance of the stories she has come up with, and the stories that the three of them are reading.

The first to finish reading was Kururiko Ogura, who closed the bound short story and sighed. Didn't speak, just waited quietly.

After a while, Xiaoling and Ah Qiu on the side also finished reading at the same time. The two of them did not look up, but each lowered his head and frowned slightly, as if he was hesitating and thinking about something.

Ogura Kuriko looked at Alice with a smile and asked, "Miss Alice, this is really a wonderful novel, I wonder if I can copy a copy and return it to you?"

Alice smiled: "No, if you think it looks good, I can send it to you, the original manuscript I left at home, and the two copies I brought today are my own manuscripts." ”

"Well, thank you very much. ”

"You're welcome. It's my honor to like it. Alice's politeness made Alice a little embarrassed, but she couldn't hide her joy and couldn't help but smile.

Ogura Kuriko looked at the two people who were still thinking about it and went back to turn the pages of the book from time to time, so she didn't wait any longer and said, "Since Sister Kosuzu and Sister Aqiu are still sorting out their feelings, it is up to me to throw bricks and tell me my own personal humble opinion on this interesting work." ”

Suzu and Aqiu then raised their heads, wanting to hear what Kogura Kuriko had to say.

"It doesn't matter if this is Miss Alice's first work, there is no doubt that it is a brilliant novel. ”

……

……

"It's a very rare piece of work – it's like a legend, it's not like it's made up out of thin air. ”

"Throughout the article, the sweet words and vows of the girlish style are like Sutaro's brushstrokes, and the profound meaning hidden in the ordinary ending, which is difficult to discover, is more like mimicking the ending of several of Christie Q's novels——"

Alice quickly replied, "That's right, although I have the material I want to write, my writing still lacks a lot - I borrow a lot from the writing styles of Suzutaro and Christie. ”

Ogura Kuriko smiled and shook her head: "Miss Alice misunderstood, what I want to say is that it is already rare to be able to combine the advantages of these two people in one work." ”

"Thank you...... Thank you. Obviously, it was only a fifteen or sixteen-year-old girl in front of her, and she would blush because of the other party's praise. Alice lamented that her heart was not mature enough.

"It's a rare work," Suzu said with a smile at this time, "but I'd like to hear what you think about this work itself rather than talking about Suzutaro and Kristi Q's creative style?"

Ogura's behavior today was very different from the silent girl she had known in the past - it reminded her of the medicine that Mo Ming had brought a few days ago from the famous doctor of Eternal Pavilion. Is that a change because of this? In any case, this is definitely not bad news.

"Taken on its own, it looks like an ordinary fable, placed in Gensokyo, but it may hide a striking reversal - only the contemplative can know the flavor of it, and the dramatic conflict lies not in the story itself, but in a deeper part of it. ”

Ogura chestnut elegantly holds the black tea, and always shows a calm and confident smile on her face.

Obviously sitting next to a few people, but it felt as if the voice was coming from a distant place, and at the invitation of a friend, he began to analyze the storyline of the novel on the table.